A microscopic view showing where bacteria has been eaten away by the NanoZymes. Credit: Dr. Chaitali Dekiwadia/RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility

Artificial enzymes could be used in hospitals and toilets. Researchers from RMIT University have developed a new artificial enzyme that uses light to kill bacteria. The artificial enzymes could one day be used in the fight against infections, and to keep high-risk public spaces like hospitals free of bacteria like E. coli and Golden Staph.

E. coli can cause dysentery and gastroenteritis, while Golden Staph is the major cause of hospital-acquired secondary infections and chronic wound infections...

Self-Healing Metal Oxides could Protect against Corrosion

Researchers find an ultrathin layer of aluminum oxide, though solid, can flow like a liquid instead of cracking. Researchers have found that a solid oxide protective coating for metals can, when applied in sufficiently thin layers, deform as if it were a liquid, filling any cracks and gaps as they form.

The thin coating layer should be especially useful to prevent leakage of tiny molecules that can penetrate through most materials, such as hydrogen gas that could be used to power fuel-cell cars, or the radioactive tritium (a heavy form of hydrogen) that forms inside the cores of nuclear power plants.

Most metals, with the notable exception of gold, tend to oxidize when exposed to air and water...

Artistic composition of the radio telescopes in space and on the ground observing NGC 1275, the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster of galaxies at a distance of 230 million light years. This radio image shows a newly forming jet that is about 3 light years long. The central black hole is inside the bright spot at the top of the image. The details visible in the image are smaller than the Oort’s comet cloud around our solar system. Credit: Pier Raffaele Platania INAF/IRA (compilation); ASC Lebedev Institute (RadioAstron image)

An international team has imaged newly forming jets of plasma from a massive black hole with unprecedented accuracy...

Artistic composition of the radio telescopes in space and on the ground observing NGC 1275, the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster of galaxies at a distance of 230 million light years. This radio image shows a newly forming jet that is about 3 light years long. The central black hole is inside the bright spot at the top of the image. The details visible in the image are smaller than the Oort’s comet cloud around our solar system. Credit: Pier Raffaele Platania INAF/IRA (compilation); ASC Lebedev Institute (RadioAstron image)

An international team has imaged newly forming jets of plasma from a massive black hole with unprecedented accuracy...